Proactive creation of photo products

ABSTRACT

A method for proactively creating a photobook includes identifying a group of images by a computer system and automatically creating a design for a photobook by the computer system without receiving a user&#39;s request for designing a photobook if the number of images in the group is determined to be within a predetermined range. Pages of the photobook incorporate a plurality of images in the group. The method further includes presenting the design of the photobook to a user for preview and receiving an order from the user for a physical manifestation of the photobook based on the design.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to utilization of digital images, and morespecifically, to the design and creation of products based on digitalimages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, photography has been rapidly transformed from chemicalbased technologies to digital imaging technologies. Images captured bydigital cameras can be stored in computers and viewed on displaydevices. Users can also produce image prints based on the digitalimages. Such image prints can be generated locally using output devicessuch an inkjet printer or a dye sublimation printer or remotely by aphoto printing service provider. Other products that can be producedusing the digital images can include photo books, photo calendars, photomug, photo T-shirt, and so on. A photo book can include a cover page anda plurality of image pages each containing one or more images. Designinga photobook can include many iterative steps such as selecting suitableimages, selecting layout, selecting images for each page, selectingbackgrounds, picture frames, overall Style, add text, choose text font,and rearrange the pages, images and text, which can be quite timeconsuming. It is desirable to provide methods to allow users to designand produce photo albums in a time efficient manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed methods and systems can significant increase the awarenessof users in personalized image products such as photobooks. A user canalso be given a chance to learn and visualize what a photobook mightlook like before he or she realizes that the possibility of a photobookor a photobook design based on his or her images. The memories of theusers can thus be better preserved in more colorful and tangible waysfor the users.

Furthermore, the disclosed systems and methods provide more convenientways for a user to obtain designs of photo books. Images in a group canbe automatically arranged into a photobook design without being asked bya user. The user is provided with an option to review, to edit, and torequest a photobook to be made according to the design. As a result, thetime and effort for a user to obtain a photobook are significantlyreduced.

In one general aspect, the present invention relates to a method forproactively creating a photobook. The method includes identifying agroup of images by a computer system; automatically creating a designfor a photobook by the computer system without receiving a user'srequest for designing a photobook if the number of images in the groupis determined to be within a predetermined range, wherein pages of thephotobook incorporate a plurality of images in the group; presenting thedesign of the photobook to a user for preview; and receiving an orderfrom the user for a physical manifestation of the photobook based on thedesign.

Implementations of the system may include one or more of the following.The group of images can be received in an upload from a computer deviceto the computer system. The group of images can be formed in anelectronic share from a first user to a second user. The group of imagescan be clustered when they are selected for printing. The group ofimages can be clustered when the images are placed in an electronicfolder or an electronic album. The group of images can be tagged by acommon label. The method can further include automatically selecting aformat or a style for the design of the photobook before the step ofautomatically creating a design for a photobook by a computer system.The method can further include determining if the number of images inthe group is determined to be within a predetermined range, wherein thepredetermined range varies depending on if the group of the images isclustered in an upload from a computer device to the computer system, orwhen the images are selected for printing, or when the images are placedin an electronic folder or an electronic album, or when the images areplaced in an electronic folder or an electronic album, or the images aretagged by a common label. The step of automatically creating a designfor a photobook can include assigning at least a portion of theplurality of images into a first page group and a second page group eachcomprising one or more images; placing the first page group of one ormore images in the first page of the photobook; and placing the secondpage group of one or more images in the second page of the photobook.The step of automatically creating a design for a photobook can furtherinclude automatically selecting a first page layout from a library ofpage layouts, wherein the first page group of one or more images areplaced in the first page according to the first page layout; andautomatically selecting a second page layout from the library of pagelayouts, wherein the second page group of one or more images are placedin the second page according to the second page layout. At least two ofthe plurality of images can be separated into the first page group andthe second page group based on capture times of the two images. The twoimages can be placed on a same page if the two images were capturedwithin a predetermined period of time. The two images can be placed on adifferent page if the two images were captured within a predeterminedperiod of time. At least two of the plurality of images can be separatedinto the first page group and the second page group based on colorcontent of the two images. The two images can be placed on a same pageif popular colors in the two images are within a predetermined distancein a color space. The two images can be placed on a different page ifpopular colors in the two images are within a predetermined distance ina color space. At least two of the plurality of images can be separatedinto the first page group and the second page group based onimage-capture locations of the two images. The method can furtherinclude allowing the user to remove at least one image from the firstpage or to move an image from the first page to the second page afterthe step of presenting the design of the photobook. The method canfurther include allowing the user to select the format or the style forthe design of the photobook page after the step of presenting the designof the photobook. The method can further include making the physicalmanifestation of the photobook in accordance to the design. The step ofpresenting the design of the photobook to a user for preview can includesending an email message to the user to present the design of thephotobook.

In another general aspect, the present invention relates to a method forproactively creating a photobook. The method includes identifying agroup of images by a computer system; automatically selecting a formatand a style for a photobook by the computer system if the number ofimages in the group is determined to be within a predetermined range;automatically creating a design for the photobook in the selected formatand the style by the computer system without receiving a user's requestfor designing a photobook using the group of images, wherein pages ofthe photobook incorporates a plurality of images in the group;presenting the design of the photobook to a user for preview; andreceiving an order from the user for a physical manifestation of thephotobook based on the design.

In another general aspect, the present invention relates to a method forproactively creating a photobook. The method includes identifying agroup of images by a computer system; automatically creating a designfor a photobook by the computer system without receiving a user'srequest for designing a photobook if the number of images in the groupis determined to be within a predetermined range, wherein pages of thephotobook incorporate a plurality of images in the group; presenting thefirst design of the photobook to a user for preview; detecting a changein the group of images; automatically modifying the first design ofphotobook to create a second design for the photobook in response to thechange in the group of images; and presenting the second design of thephotobook to a user for preview.

Implementations of the system may include one or more of the following.The change in the group of images can include addition to the group ofimages or removal of images from the group of images. The change in thegroup of images can include a change in an image property of the groupof images. The image property can include a tag, a keyword, a title of afolder where the images are placed, or metadata at least one of theimages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawing, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for imaging applicationscompatible with the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart for proactively creating a photobook inaccordance to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplified user interface showing an image album having aplurality of images.

FIG. 4 is an exemplified user interface showing an image album having aplurality of images, and an indication that a photobook has beenproactively created.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an exemplified user interface for showing aproactively created photobook.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart for proactively and automatically creating adesign for a photobook in accordance to the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates sorting and grouping of images by image capture timein accordance to an aspect of the present application.

FIG. 8 illustrates sorting and grouping of images by image color contentin accordance to another aspect of the present application.

FIG. 9 illustrates sorting and grouping of images by image-capturelocation in accordance to another aspect of the present application.

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart for proactively creating a photobook inaccordance to another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for proactively creating a photo product for anevent in accordance to some embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, the term “photo album” refers to a book thatincludes one or two cover pages and one or more image pages. Each of theimage pages can include one or more images. The image pages can alsoinclude text or image caption. The image layout can also include abackground pattern. In the imaging industry, photo albums can includephoto books, scrapbooks, snap books, and any books form including boundimage pages.

A computer 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 represents an exemplified hardwaresetup for executing software that allows a user to perform tasks such ascommunicating with other computer users, accessing various computerresources, and viewing, creating, or otherwise manipulating electroniccontent, that is, any combination of text, images, movies, music orother sounds, animations, 3D virtual worlds, and links to other objects.The system includes various input/output (I/O) devices (mouse 103,keyboard 105, display 107) and a computer 100 having a central processorunit (CPU) 121, an I/O unit 117 and a memory 109 that stores data andvarious programs such as an operating system 111, and one or moreapplication programs 113. The computer 100 also typically includesnon-volatile memory 110 (e.g., flash RAM, a hard disk drive, and/or afloppy disk or other removable storage media) and a communications cardor device 123 (e.g., a modem or network adapter) for exchanging datawith a network 127 via a communications link 125 such as a cable modem,DSL service or wireless Internet connection. The computer 100 of FIG. 1also can be connected to various peripheral I/O devices. One of the morepopular of such peripheral devices is a digital camera 108. The digitalcamera 108 enables users to take pictures (i.e., images), which aresaved in memory within the digital camera 108 in a digital format. Aftertaking and storing the images, the user can connect the digital camera108 to a computer 100 in order to upload the digital images to thecomputer's disk drive or other non-volatile memory 110. The user canalso wirelessly transfer digital images in the digital camera to thecomputer 100. Once the digital images are uploaded to the computer 100,the user can erase the digital images from the memory of the digitalcamera 108 so that the user can take and store additional images usingthe digital camera 108. Typically, the digital camera 108 is connectedto the computer 100 only while the user is uploading images to thecomputer's disk drive or other non-volatile memory 110. Once the digitalimages are stored on the computer 100, a user can perform variousoperations on them. For example, an image viewer application can be usedto view the images. A photo editing application can also be used totouch-up or otherwise modify the images. The computer 100 cancommunicate via Internet 150 with a server 160 provided by a serviceprovider, such as Shutterfly, Inc. A user operating the computer 100 canupload or download images between the computer and the server 160. Theuser can also electronically share his or her images facilitated by theservice provider.

It should be noted that the computer 100 can exist in otherconfigurations from the example shown in FIG. 1 and described above. Thecomputer can include a mobile device such as a smart phone, a wirelessenabled mobile computer such as a laptop computer or a tablet computer.

Although large numbers of images are frequently captured by digitalcameras, people often are not aware of the types of customized digitalenabled imaging products that are available from image service providerssuch as Shutterfly, Inc. Customizable image products can includephotobooks, photo calendars, photo greeting cards, photo stationeries,photo mugs, photo T-shirt, and so on, which can provide significantenhanced ways for preserving people's treasured memories in addition toviewing images on electronic displays.

Additionally, significant obstacles exist even for people who are awareof the availability of customizable image products. The design of aphotobook, for example, can take significant amount of time and effort.A user has to select photos for many pages including a cover page. Theuser needs to select a format, and a style for the photobook. The userneeds to design or select layout for each page, sort images fordifferent pages, and place images onto individual pages. The photobookdesign can take many iterative steps such as selecting suitable images,selecting layout, selecting images for each page, add text, which canoften take hours to complete.

Once the user approves a design, the photobook can be made according tothe design locally by a printer 130 connected to the computer 100, orremotely by the imaging service provider at a printing facility 170.

Referring to FIG. 2, a photobook can be made available to a user in thefollowing general process. It should be noted that the process caninclude substeps within each step and other steps not shown in FIG. 2. Agroup of images are identified by a computer system such as the computer100 or the server 170 (step 210). The images can be received in a groupin an upload from a computer device (e.g. the computer 100, FIG. 1) tothe computer system (e.g. the server 170, FIG. 1), or from a digitalcamera to a computer (e.g. the computer 100, FIG. 1). The images canform a group when the images are shared in an electronic message from afirst user (e.g. operating the computer 100, FIG. 1) to a second uservia a computer server (e.g. the server 170, FIG. 1). The images can beidentified when a group of images are selected for printing. The imagescan also be identified when the images are placed in an electronicfolder or an electronic album for an occasion or event, or simply forcollecting pictures of a theme or interest (which can be called “apicture picker”). As shown in FIG. 3, a user interface 300 (e.g. a webbrowser) displays an image album 310 that can have an album name 315such as “Graduation Celebration” and a plurality of images 320. Theimage album 310 can include several pages of images that a user cannavigate to and view by clicking arrow buttons 340, 350. Furthermore,images may be tagged by a user or the service provider by labeled suchas “Hawaiian Vacation”, “Soccer Team”, “Birthday Party”, “Favorite”,etc. A group of images can be identified when they are tagged by acommon label such as “Hawaiian Vacation”.

The computer system then determines if the number of images is within apredetermined range (step 220). For example, the threshold for thenumber of images in the group can be 20 (i.e. the predetermined range is20 or higher). If the images in the group are within the predeterminedrange, the computer system automatically selects a style and a formatfor a photobook (step 230). The styles of photobooks can include, forexample, romance, seasonal, every day, vacation, travel, wedding, baby,kids, birthday, school memories, sports, Mother's day, holiday, etc.,each of which can include more detailed styles. A style of a photobookcan specify a theme for the photobook such as colors, background themes,patterns, picture frames, text fonts, positions of the text, and imageson the inner pages as well as covers of the photobook. The format of aphotobook can include the size e.g. 5″×7″, 8″×8″, 12″×12″ etc.), thepaper stock materials for the pages and the cover, the type of binding,and the finish of the photobook.

In some embodiments, the predetermined range can depend on how the groupof images is selected, whether they are selected for printing, or forelectronic share, or placed in a single electronic folder or album, orreceived in an image upload, or tagged by a same label. For example, thethreshold number can be 15 for the images that are selected forprinting, and 20 for the images that are selected for electronicsharing. The different threshold image numbers for different imageaggregation sources is based on the observation that users conductingdifferent image operations often have different degrees of interests inseeing the design and making a physical image-based product such as aphotobook. The above described flexibility in image threshold numberscan provide service best suitable to different segments of users.

The style and the format of the photobook can have default selectionssuch as “everyday” for the photobook style and 8″ by 8″ hardcover forthe photobook format. In some embodiments, the style and the format ofthe photobook can be selected based on knowledge of the images in thegroup. Specifically, an image property can be extracted from the groupof identified images. For example, if the images are identified by acommon tag label “Hawaii Vacation”, a photobook style for vacation, orspecifically for Hawaiian vacation, may be automatically selected. Inanother example, if the images identified are in an electronic albumcalled “Molly's Birthday Party”, a birthday photobook style can beautomatically selected. In another example, the album name 315 (FIG. 3)in which the images (320, FIG. 3) are identified can be used toautomatically select a photobook style (such as a “Graduation” photobookstyle).

The computer system automatically produces a design incorporating theidentified images using the automatically selected photobook style andformat (step 240). It should be noted that the photobook design usingthe group of identified images, and the associated selections ofphotobook style and formats, are proactively and automaticallyimplemented by the computer system without receiving a request from auser. The approach described in the present systems and methods isdifferent from conventional photobook creation processes wherein usersinitiate projects to design photobooks. As described above, conventionalphotobook-making methods require awareness and familiarity of thephotobooks by the users. The projects of creating photobooks can be verytime consuming.

The proactively and automatically created design of the photobook can bepresented by the computer system to a user for preview (step 250). Asshown in FIG. 4, the user interface 300 can display a button 400 “SeeYour Photobook” to indicate that a photobook based on the images 320 inthe image album 310 has been proactively created, and ready for theusers view. A photobook design 500 is displayed in the user interface300 after the user clicks the button 400, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.The photobook can include a front cover 510, a back cover 520, and aplurality of pages 530, 540. The book title can be automaticallyselected from the name of the image album 310 (FIG. 3). The front cover510 can include a book title 515 and an image 518 selected from theimages 320 (FIG. 3). For example, the image 518 can be the first imagein the album 310 or the image used (for a thumbnail image) to representthe image album 310. The page 530 can include an image 531. The page 540can include images 541, 542, and text 543. The presentation of thephotobook design 500 can include realistic illumination and texture toimitate effects of the materials in the selected book format.

The user can click arrow buttons 550, 560 to view different pages of thephotobook. The cover and different pages of the photobook design 500 canalso be played automatically like a slide show once the user clicks thebutton 400 (FIG. 4).

Optionally, the user is allowed to edit the photobook design 500 (step260). The user can change, switch, or remove the images 518, 531, 541,and 542 on the book cover 510 and pages 530, 540. The user can alsochange text information such as the book cover 515 and the text 543. Itshould be noted that the photobook design 500 represents a completedesign of a photobook that is ready to be ordered. The editing is anoptional step depending on the user's time availability.

It should be understood that the proactively created photobook designscan be presented in many forms. As describe above, images identified tocreate a photobook design typically belong to a group, such as a groupof shared images, posted images, uploaded images, or images selected forprinting, etc. The proactively created photobook design is presented tothe user at relevant places on the web pages, such as on a web page forconfirming the share of the group of images, at a share web when thegroup of shared images are viewed, or at a page after a group of imageshave been ordered for printing. The image service provider can alsoproactively send an email to inform someone about the creation of thephotobook design. For example, a user that just uploaded a group ofimages to the server managed by the image service provider may receivean email message from the service provider about the creation of thephotobook design.

After the user has reviewed and optionally edited the photobook design500, the user can save the photobook design 500 and order a physicalmanifestation of the photobook based on the to edit the photobook design500 from the image service provider (step 270).

The image service provider can receive the order via the server 160 hasa physical manifestation manufactured at the printing facility 170according to the photobook design 500 (step 280).

Details about the proactive design of a photobook (in steps 230-240,FIG. 2) are described below. Referring to FIG. 6, a group of imageshaving numbers within a predetermined range are first obtained asdescribed above by a computer system (step 600). A style and a formatcan be automatically selected for a photobook design (step 610). Theimages are sorted by one or more criteria to produce a desirablesequence that the images will be presented in a photo book (step 620).The criteria can include a primary criterion. For example, the imagescan be sorted by their associated image capture times. The image capturetimes can be extracted from the header information in the image files.For example, a JPEG image may include an EXIF header that includes thecapture time of the image. It is stored by the digital camera in theimage file as information in association with the image data. Referringto FIG. 7, a cumulative image count can be plotted against image capturetime. In one implementation, the list of images can be sequencedchronically based on capture time of the images. Users often prefer tohave images to appear in book pages in a chronological order. The imagescan be then separated into page groups using one or more secondarycriteria. For example, images can be grouped according to capture time.Images captured in a short time interval are more likely suitable to beplaced on the same page, facing pages, or adjacent pages in a photobook. In some embodiments, images that are taken in a short interval(e.g. a day) can be assigned to a same group (e.g. Group A, FIG. 7). Theimages in Group A, Group B, or Group C (FIG. 7) are captured in a shorttime interval. The images in each of these groups can be respectivelygrouped as candidates to appear on a same page, facing pages, oradjacent pages.

The sorted images may be first placed into a group including a largenumber of images that do not fit on a page. For example, ten images inGroup B (FIG. 7) are taken in a short time interval such a day. Theimages in Group B can be further separated into page groups using othersecondary criteria such as color content and image capture locations.For instance, the most popular color of each of the ten images can beplotted in a color space (such as (Y, u, v), (L, a, b) etc.), as shownin FIG. 8. The color space is first separated into finite number ofregions. The most popular color is defined as the color region that hasthe most pixel values that fall into. The ten images can be furthersub-grouped according to their adjacencies in the color plane (u, v):images 1-3 may be categorized into a first group; images 4-6 may becategorized into a second group; images 7-10 may be categorized into athird group. The images 1-10 in Group A might have been taken within asame day. The photographer might have traveled to several differentsurroundings, such as a beach, a restaurant indoor, or a swimming poolat the hotel, each of which may have different color distributions. Itshould be understood that the display of color content distributions ofimages are not limited to a specific color coordinates or the twodimensional color plane shown in FIG. 8. The color distributions can beplotted in three dimensional color spaces (Y, u, v), (L, a, b), or twodimensional color planes such as (Y, u), (Y, v), (a, b), (L, a) etc. Insome embodiments, the images with close distance in color space areintentionally separated across different pages in the photobook such asthe images on a page will not look alike. In some embodiments, theimages can be sorted or grouped based on geographic locations. Forexample, assuming Group C (FIG. 7) includes five images that are taken,for example, in a same day. Geo location information about each of thefive images can be extracted from the header information of the fiveimages, and plotted as shown in FIG. 9. Images 1-3 are shown to havebeen taken in close proximity while images 4-5 are taken at similarlocations. Images 1-3 can be sub-grouped together and assigned to Page 4of the photo book. Images 4-5 can be sub-grouped together and assignedto Page 5 of the photo book. In some embodiments, the Images 1-3 and theImages 4-5 can be assigned to be on facing pages (e.g. such as pages 4and 5) such that the images from the same events can be viewed on facingpages in one open-book view. In some embodiments, the images with closegeographic proximity are intentionally separated across different pagesin the photobook such as the images on a page will not look alike. Theplacements of two page groups of images on facing pages can be based onone or more secondary criteria, such as image capture time, image colorcontent, and image capture location.

A page layout is automatically selected from the library of page layoutsin accordance with the properties of the images on the page as well asthe text information associated with the image receiving areas in thepage layout (step 630). The format of the image receiving field in thepage layout matches the format of the selected image. For example,images in Group A (FIG. 7) may include two landscape images (L) and twoportrait images (P). A notation for the image formats for Group A can be“LLPP”. The page layout selected from the page-layout library shouldhave four image receiving areas with matching image formats “LLPP”.

The page layout also includes an image caption area positioned adjacentto the image receiving area for receiving the associated textinformation. For example, one portrait image and one landscape image maybe selected for the next page. The portrait image has associated textinformation entered by the user and stored in conjunction with theportrait image. The landscape is not associated with any textinformation. In selecting a page layout, the disclosed system firstselect page layouts containing two image receiving areas, and thenfurther selects page layouts that have include one portrait and onelandscape image receiving areas. Additionally, the disclosed systemfurther selects page layouts that include an image caption area inassociation with the portrait image receiving area. After the pagelayout is selected, the selected image(s) and associated text areautomatically placed in the selected page layout (step 640). Theplacement of the selected image(s) and associated text can be done in asingle step because they are pre-stored in an integrated data structureas described previously. The same steps can be repeated for fill theimage fields and text fields in each page of a photo book. The user canselect an image from the plurality of images to be used as part of thebook cover. Details about arranging images in page layouts are disclosedin the above referenced commonly assigned U. S. patent application Ser.No. 12/406,873, titled “Smart photobook creation”, the content of whichis incorporated herein by reference.

In some embodiments, the design of the photobook can be dynamicallychanged as the identified images change in the group. For example, thephotobook design 500 can dynamically change as a user adds or removesimages in and out of an image album (310, FIG. 3). The number of pages,the number of images per page, and the layout of images on the pages canautomatically adapt to the changes to the images identified in thegroup. In general the process of updating photobook design can includethe following steps: similar to the descriptions above in relation tosteps 210-250 (FIG. 2), referring to FIG. 10, a group of images is firstidentified (step 1010). If the number of images in the identified groupof images is determined to be in a predetermined range (step 1020), astyle and a format are automatically selected for a photobook design(step 1030). A first design of a photobook is automatically createdwithout receiving a request from a user (step 1040). The first design ofthe photobook is made available for the preview by a user (step 1050).When a change is detected in the group of identified images (step 1060),a second design of a photobook is automatically created withoutreceiving a request from a user in response to the change detected inthe group of images (step 1070). The change in the group of images caninclude addition to the group of images or removal of images from thegroup of images. The change in the group of images can also include achange in an image property of the group of images. The image propertycan include a tag, a keyword, a title of a folder where the images areplaced, or metadata at least one of the images.

The second design of the photobook is subsequently presented for user'spreview (step 1080). The change in the group of identified images caninclude addition, removal, a change in the sequence, addition of remarksand keywords, addition in change in tagging in a group of images. Theuploading of images into an image folder/album can take more than oneuploading events. The design of the photobook can be continually updatedas new images are received by the image folder/album.

In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 11, a photo product can beproactively created when it is detected that photos have been taken foran event. A group of images are from one or more user devices (step1110). As described above, the images can be received an a network-basedimage service provider over wired or wireless networks from mobilephones, tablets, desktops, laptops, and other computer and communicationdevices. In some situations, the transfer of images to a network systemover a computer network can be called image uploads. The group of imagescan be received in one batch or multiple batches, or from multiple users(e.g. as in the example of a photo share site). The image capture timesand image capture locations of the images in the group are automaticallyanalyzed (step 1120) by a local computer or servers at the networksystem. As described above, the image capture times and locations areoften stored in image file headers as meta data, which can be accessedand examined. The analyses of image capture times and locations can beconducted in parallel while images are uploaded to the network system.An event is automatically identified based on the image capture timesand image capture locations of the images (step 1130) by the localcomputer or the networked computer server. For example, using map and ageolocation data base, it is determined that locations of a number ofimages are within or around a baseball stadium. Then using Internetsearch engines, it is determined that the image capture times of theseimages coincides with the time of a ball game between two teams. Then anevent is identified as a baseball game between the two teams held at thestadium.

Optionally, an organizer (such as MLB) for the event is automaticallyidentified (step 1140). Optionally, it determined whether a partnershiphas already been established between the network-based image serviceprovider and the event organizer (step 1150). If not, a partnership canbe established in response to the images identified taken at the event.The partnership can define the type of corporations between thenetwork-based image service provider and the event organizer, whichamong other things, include the type of photo products that thenetwork-based image service provider can help create and fulfill for theevent organizer.

The images taken at the event are then selected based on certainpredetermined criteria (such as color balance, light exposure, imagetone, image sharpness including blurriness, image pixel values, imagecomposition, faces in the images, etc.). Those images taken at the eventthat are above a quality threshold are selected to form a set ofselected images (step 1160).

A photo product type is then automatically selected based on a number ofpossible factors (step 1170). First, the photo product type can bedependent on the number of images that are above a quality threshold(that is, selected images). For example, a photo book or photo calendarusually need more than 10 images while photo greeting cards and photomugs can be formed using fewer images. Secondly, the photo product typecan be determined by the nature of the event. For example, a photoT-shirt and photo water bottle may be especially suitable for a sportsevent. In the case of the location being identified as a party provider(jump house location) or a theme park, product designs suitable to thesevenues can be chosen. Furthermore, the photo product type can be definedby the agreement of the partnership between the network-based imageservice provider and the event organizer (step 1170). In the case ofpartnerships, certain pre-stored images could be added: for example,images of Mickey and Donald for a partnership with Disney; or the playerimages and team statistics in the case of partnership with a sportsteam.

The selected images are automatically placed in a layout of a photoproduct of the selected photo product type (step 1180), withoutreceiving a user's request. Details of grouping, page layout selection,and placing images onto a photo product such as a photobook aredisclosed above in relation to FIGS. 2-10. The photo product types caninclude photo books, photo calendars, photo greeting cards, photo mugs,photo T-shirts, photo home decor, and so on.

A design of the photo product can then be shared with one or more userdevices (step 1190) over the computer network. A user can view or ordera copy of the photo product. The network-based image service providercan then make the photo product and ship to the user. After thetransaction, the network-based image service provider may share aportion of the proceeds with the partner that organized the event.

It should be understood that the library of page layout contains layoutswith different numbers of images other than one, two, and three. For agiven number of images on a page and for the given formats of theimages, the page layout is not limited to the designs shown in thisapplication. There can be a large variation of layout designs for thesame number of images with the same formats on each page. Moreover, thesorting and grouping of images can be implemented by other approaches orusing other metrics. The illustration of page grouping and page breaksfor the images can also vary within the scope of the present disclosure.Moreover, the presently disclosed systems and methods are compatiblewith a software application installed locally on a computer device,client software in communication with a remote server, or a softwareapplication installed on a central server.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for proactivelycreating a photo product, comprising: receiving a group of images fromone or more user devices; automatically identifying an event based onimage capture times and image capture locations of the images by acomputer processor; selecting images taken at the event to form a set ofselected one or more images; automatically identifying an organizer forthe event; determining or establishing a partnership with the organizer;automatically selecting a photo product type in part based on thepartnership with the organizer; and automatically creating a design of aphoto product of the selected photo product type using the set ofselected one or more images for the event.
 2. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: automatically selecting a numberof images taken at the event to form the set of selected one or moreimages; automatically selecting a photo product type in part based onthe number of selected one or more images; and automatically placing theselected one or more images in a layout of a photo product of theselected photo product type to create the design of a photo product. 3.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:automatically selecting a photo product type in part based on the event;and automatically placing the selected one or more images in a layout ofa photo product of the selected photo product type to create the designof a photo product.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the design of a photo product is created without receiving auser's request.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe set of selected one or more images from the event is automaticallyselected based on a quality threshold, wherein the quality thresholdcomprises one or more of color balance, light exposure, image tone,image sharpness including blurriness, image pixel values, imagecomposition, faces in the images taken at the event.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:automatically analyzing the image capture times and the image capturelocations of the images by the computer processor while the group ofimages are received from one or more user devices.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the images are receivedfrom the one or more user devices over a computer network.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step ofautomatically creating a design of a photo product comprises:automatically placing the selected one or more images in a layout of aphoto product of the selected photo product type to create the design ofa photo product.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe step of automatically creating a design for a photo productcomprises: assigning at least a portion of the selected one or moreimages into a first page group and a second page group each comprisingone or more images; placing the first page group of one or more imagesin the first page of the photo product; and placing the second pagegroup of one or more images in the second page of the photo product. 10.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step ofautomatically creating a design for a photo product further comprises:automatically selecting a first page layout from a library of pagelayouts, wherein the first page group of one or more images are placedin the first page according to the first page layout; and automaticallyselecting a second page layout from the library of page layouts, whereinthe second page group of one or more images are placed in the secondpage according to the second page layout.
 11. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 10, wherein at least two selected images are separatedinto the first page group and the second page group based on capturetimes of the two selected images.
 12. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 10, wherein at least two selected images are separated into thefirst page group and the second page group based on color content of thetwo selected images.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising: sharing a design of the photo product with one ormore user devices.
 14. A computer-implemented method for proactivelycreating a photo product, comprising: receiving a group of images fromone or more user devices; automatically identifying an event based onimage capture times and image capture locations of the images; selectinga number of images taken at the event to form a set of selected one ormore images; automatically selecting a photo product type in part basedon the number of selected one or more images taken at the event; andautomatically creating a design of a photo product using the selectedone or more images for the event; and displaying a design of the photoproduct with one or more user devices.
 15. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 14, further comprising: automatically analyzing theimage capture times and the image capture locations of the images by thecomputer processor while the group of images are received from one ormore user devices.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14,further comprising: sharing a design of the photo product with one ormore user devices.
 17. A computer-implemented method for proactivelycreating a photo product, comprising: receiving a group of images fromone or more user devices; automatically identifying an event based onimage capture times and image capture locations of the images; selectingimages taken at the event to form a set of selected one or more images;automatically selecting a photo product type as determined by nature ofthe event; automatically creating a design of a photo product using theset of selected one or more images for the event; and displaying adesign of the photo product with one or more user devices.
 18. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising:automatically analyzing the image capture times and the image capturelocations of the images are by the computer processor while the group ofimages are received from one or more user devices.
 19. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising: sharing adesign of the photo product with one or more user devices.